Folding PC without a case?

[Oldbenwa]

Marty / Oldbenwa can correct me here if im wrong, But i believe 96 was the bare min they used for their folding boxes, and if you bumped it up to ~128 it was more stable.

You are correct master K*.

Oldbenwa

 

[n64man120]

How safe are running these naked boxes, I mean you or someone who doesn't konw better could accidently bump/touch something... and ESD != happy camper

 

[Heliocentrical]

How safe are running these naked boxes, I mean you or someone who doesn't konw better could accidently bump/touch something... and ESD != happy camper

Well I "built" a case for it out of a small cardboard box and put it behind my desk where its out of reach.

 

[KodiakStar]

How safe are running these naked boxes, I mean you or someone who doesn't konw better could accidently bump/touch something... and ESD != happy camper

you have people come visit you.. and you let them near the holiest of sacreds?

 

[marty9876]

Marty / Oldbenwa can correct me here if im wrong, But i believe 96 was the bare min they used for their folding boxes, and if you bumped it up to ~128 it was more stable.

96 meg for the Mage's fold server, running any "normal" WU. Any more is not more stable, just once you get to a cetain point you can run large WU's (~196 or 256 we never really figured this out, but your running 256 I think so we know that's good)

I think his question was under an Microsoft OS (2k). Really any amout should work as the OS will create a swap file. Mage's fold server does not swap at all, you run out of room your screwed. Things get all screwed up, the boxen go to "sleep" per the folding log.

However, folding is very memory bandwidth intensive. So, if you end up swapping the core work your preformance will go way, way , way down to the bottom of the toilet. Yea, I'd say under a Windows OS, 128 and normal WU's would be a good match. 96 and NT might work, 2k I just don't know.

We tried 32 meg and mage's fold server, not a good result.

 

[n64man120]

you have people come visit you.. and you let them near the holiest of sacreds?

room is kinda cramped. Everywhere is either voulerable to people, or already covered in tons of crap

 

[Heliocentrical]

96 meg for the Mage's fold server, running any "normal" WU. Any more is not more stable, just once you get to a cetain point you can run large WU's (~196 or 256 we never really figured this out, but your running 256 I think so we know that's good)

I think his question was under an Microsoft OS (2k). Really any amout should work as the OS will create a swap file. Mage's fold server does not swap at all, you run out of room your screwed. Things get all screwed up, the boxen go to "sleep" per the folding log.

However, folding is very memory bandwidth intensive. So, if you end up swapping the core work your preformance will go way, way , way down to the bottom of the toilet. Yea, I'd say under a Windows OS, 128 and normal WU's would be a good match. 96 and NT might work, 2k I just don't know.

We tried 32 meg and mage's fold server, not a good result.

So then I should see improved performance on that machine if I downgrade to 98se right?
According to MS the requirements to run that OS are:

66MHz 486DX computer, with 16MB of memory

With the hardware I have, that should leave plenty of power to run the client.

 

[marty9876]

So then I should see improved performance on that machine if I downgrade to 98se right?
According to MS the requirements to run that OS are:

66MHz 486DX computer, with 16MB of memory

With the hardware I have, that should leave plenty of power to run the client.

Yea if 98se runs for more that a week straight maybe. Also, I think the clients are different between 98 and NT/2k/XP with the newer client on the latter group. Not 100% sure of that.

edit: I think your running 96 meg if were still talking about the same box. It should be good to go under 2k, I've just not worked much with 2k personally. Anything has to be better than 98se

 

[sandmanx]

Yea if 98se runs for more that a week straight maybe. Also, I think the clients are different between 98 and NT/2k/XP with the newer client on the latter group. Not 100% sure of that.

edit: I think your running 96 meg if were still talking about the same box. It should be good to go under 2k, I've just not worked much with 2k personally. Anything has to be better than 98se

With Win9x, you can't run the new v5.x folding programs, you have to stick with v4.x. You also cannot install as a service(of course.) That's why I said to go with linux if your looking for a low overhead OS for a box that's just folding. A linux console install that only runs FAH is about as low overhead as you can have.

 

[Heliocentrical]

Well there is something wrong with this new folding box. It just wont run F@H. The boots up fine.I can surf the net and check my email but when I start up the F@H client it locks up within 5 frames.

 

[rogue_jedi]

is it prime stable? that's the first thing i'd check.
<- add about 6k to that, the numbers are off

 

[Heliocentrical]

is it prime stable? that's the first thing i'd check.
<- add about 6k to that, the numbers are off

Sorry, I dont follow. Prime????

 

[towert7]

Aratech, if you are using the console version, there is a glitch so to say. What will happen is that it will stop posting results in the console window, BUT it is still folding. (you can double check this by opening up the task manager and seeing the CPU usage at 100%).

What happens is odd, i have trouble explaining it because im not exactly sure why it happens. But the console title bar will go from something like
C:\F@H\
to
Select: C:\F@H\

To fix this, just click in the console and press the enter key. Then you should see a lot of text spit out at you (the work that was being done, just not being displayed).

It seems to happen when you "select" space inside the console window... as in highlighting even just black space.

If this is not the case, then It sounds like you have a real problem.

~Hope this helps

Oh, PS. Prime95 is just a program which is very CPU intensive that just goes through all the prime numbers.... people use it as a good burn in tool to stress the system and put it at 100% usage.

 

[Heliocentrical]

Aratech, if you are using the console version, there is a glitch so to say. What will happen is that it will stop posting results in the console window, BUT it is still folding. (you can double check this by opening up the task manager and seeing the CPU usage at 100%).

What happens is odd, i have trouble explaining it because im not exactly sure why it happens. But the console title bar will go from something like
C:\F@H\
to
Select: C:\F@H\

To fix this, just click in the console and press the enter key. Then you should see a lot of text spit out at you (the work that was being done, just not being displayed).

It seems to happen when you "select" space inside the console window... as in highlighting even just black space.

If this is not the case, then It sounds like you have a real problem.

~Hope this helps

Oh, PS. Prime95 is just a program which is very CPU intensive that just goes through all the prime numbers.... people use it as a good burn in tool to stress the system and put it at 100% usage.

Good advice. That wasnt the issue though. The entire system was locking up not just the client. I had no functions at all, mouse frozen ect...

But I have some good news....
I think I have found the problem. A bad stick of 32mb pc100. I have three installed. 2 are siemens brand and the 3rd is generic. I removed the generic and the system is humming along just fine. Its been folding a few hours now without a problem.

Of course,it's even slower than before. I need to find some compatible pc100 ram. I havent seen any in the DC trade forums.

Also, does anyone know what the slot one mobos are called? I was thinking about buying a case for this "rig" but the mobo doesnt look like it will fit in an ATX case. It's too long.

 

[towert7]

In the old days they had AT motherboards if im not mistaken, but im not sure if yours is one. ATX can get rather large also.

Here is a quick rundown
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/mobo/formComparison-c.html

 

[Fenris_Ulf]

Compgeeks and SVC both have some cheap cases. I've picked up the SOYO case at SVC for $20 and the the miniATX at compgeeks and both have worked well.

If I was at home I'd send you some PC100 ram, but I'm on a business trip for the next month.

 

[Heliocentrical]

The naked pc folded well for 3 days until I had to reboot. When I rebooted, it didnt start folding where it left off (125000 of 250000) but instead started over with a new WU. Is this normal with the console version? All my other boxen will continue where they left off if the pc is turned off or rebooted.

 

[Mayhem33]

I always go in to the services and turn it off there before rebooting....sometimes when you reboot your box may not get a checkpoint saved before the boot.

 

[Heliocentrical]

With Win9x, you can't run the new v5.x folding programs, you have to stick with v4.x. You also cannot install as a service(of course.) That's why I said to go with linux if your looking for a low overhead OS for a box that's just folding. A linux console install that only runs FAH is about as low overhead as you can have.

Well, I went ahead and used windows 2000 for this rig. I got a hold of 256mb ram and I saw a huge improvement over the 96mb of ram I had before. I installed the v5.x console as a service and set it to timeless units. Its been cranking out WU's ever since.

It's not as fast as I would like but it's a dedicated folder so I rarely use it for anything else.I still cant believe that windows 2000 is asking for more than 256mb ram to run smoothly even though Microsoft says it can run on 64mb ram. It seems like the more ram I add, the more it needs to run.

 

[blakex]

I always go in to the services and turn it off there before rebooting....sometimes when you reboot your box may not get a checkpoint saved before the boot.

Could you expand on how you shut it down through Services? I was just wondering what the "proper" way to shut it down is. Even if you have the console running - you can't just close the box (or at least you shouldn't just do it that way - should you?).

Thanks

 

[Kvothe]

If you go under Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services, highlight the FAH@C:+... entry, and select stop. This will kill the service before the system reboots. It's no different than just rebooting and letting Windows shut the service down on its own, but it prevents the immediate kill off of the service if it hangs and allows the client to shut down cleanly.

 

[OSUguy98]

Would setting up a scheduled task to run a "stop service" batch file actually work?
Can you set up a scheduled task to run at shutdown even?


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 

[Kvothe]

Well I would think that would provide worse results than just letting Windows shut the service down. In theory they should shut down the same way.

After looking though, it appears that XP Pro at least, doesn't let you run scheduled tasks at shutdown, just at startup, and logon with the various options for certain times.

 

[OSUguy98]

Yup... I searched through and didn't find anything for "at shutdown".... Of course, a shortcut on your desktop that links to the stop batch file and named something that screams "DO THIS BEFORE SHUTDOWN" would work... albeit manually....


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 

[rogue_jedi]

i'll have to dig, but i think there's a way to run stuff at shutdown...

pretty sure i've seen one while digging through one of the msc things.

i'll report back later.

 

[KodiakStar]

I still don't understand this whole concept.

You mean... the power goes off.. to the computer..

no juice...

nothing?

and... you are the one that causes this?

Why?

 

[Codegen]

How safe are running these naked boxes, I mean you or someone who doesn't konw better could accidently bump/touch something... and ESD != happy camper

New G/F: "EEEK! Pizza Boxes" *grabs boxes oblivious to the cables out the back and puts them in trash bin"

 

[KodiakStar]

New G/F: "EEEK! Pizza Boxes" *grabs boxes oblivious to the cables out the back and puts them in trash bin"

if they were a TRUE gf... they would check to see if there was pizza left in the boxes first

 

[rogue_jedi]

i'll have to dig, but i think there's a way to run stuff at shutdown...

pretty sure i've seen one while digging through one of the msc things.

i'll report back later.

that was easy.

start -> run -> gpedit.msc
in the group policy editor, computer configuration -> windows settings -> scripts (startup/shutdown)

that's if you want it to do it regardless of who is logged in. you can set it as a logoff script in the same place under user configuration.

 

[OSUguy98]

Does it make for a "cleaner" exit from F@H?
I've noticed a handful of early end units right after I reboot my PCs... I'm using the newest BETA...


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 

[Kvothe]

start -> run -> gpedit.msc
in the group policy editor, computer configuration -> windows settings -> scripts (startup/shutdown)

that's if you want it to do it regardless of who is logged in. you can set it as a logoff script in the same place under user configuration.

Mind you, thats XP Pro only, group policy doesn't exist in XP Home.